Dispensing apparatus and window mount therefor



April 19, 1960 R. M` BARTH 2,932,860

DISPENSING APPARATUS AND WINDOW MOUNT THEREFOR Filed May l0, 1957 will-S l?. ma,

ATTORNEY United States Patent O i DISPENSING APPARATUS AND WINDOW MOUNT THEREFOR Robert M. Barth, Pelham Manor, N.Y.

Application May 10, 1957, Serial No. 558,285

3 Claims. (Cl. 2li-40) The present invention relates generally to an improved dispensing apparatus, and it relates more particularly to an improved coin-actuated dispensing appartus mounted in a storefront window so as to be accessible from without the store.

It is common knowledge that in many types of retail stores the majority of sales are made during a small fraction of the day while the remaining sales are spread over the rest of the day and represent a relatively minor part of the total sales. However, while these latter sales represent an important contribution to the prosperity and success of the particular enterprise they reflect a highly uneconomical operation. The personnel employed which must be adequate to handle sales satisfactorily at the peak period nd little to do during the slack period during which the store remains open. Furthermore, during the normal closed days and hours a purchase demand is often present which is lost, this loss also including impulse purchasing. This is particularly true in the case of confectionery stores and the like.

It is thus a principal object of the present invention to provide an improved dispensing apparatus.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved coin-operated dispensing apparatus.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an improved coin-operated dispensing apparatus accessible through a storefront display window.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved coin-operated dispensing apparatus in which the dispensed articles may form part of the store window display.

Still a further object of the present invention is to provide an improved coin-operated dispensing apparatus for a storefront display window and characterized by its ruggedness, simplicity and attractiveness and its ease of application and installation.

The above and other objects of the present invention will become apparent from a reading of the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure l is a front elevational view of the improved apparatus shown partially broken away for convenience of illustration;

Figure 2 is a detail sectional view taken along line 2-2 in Figure l;

Figure 3 is a detail sectional view taken along line 3-3 in Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a detail sectional view taken along line 4*4 in Figure 1; and

Figure 5 is a front perspective view of a slave unit forming part of the present apparatus.

In a sense, the present invention contemplates the provision of an improved dispensing apparatus for use in a store display window having a generally rectangular opening, said apparatus comprising a transparent window pane of rectangular configuration having a lower corner removed therefrom and registering with said opening, a corresponding lower corner of said opening being un- Y2,932,860 Patented Apr. 19, 196() ice covered by said pane, a dispensing actuating mechanism having a front panel confronting said uncovered corner, and a bezel engaging the edge of said pane and secured to the border of said panel.

Referring now to the drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the numeral 10 generally designates a storefront having: a display window 12 elevated above street level by a wall 14. The storefront 10 is, for the most part, of conventional construction being provided with a counter or platform behind the Window 12 and approximately at the level of the lower part of the window. The window 12 is surrounded by a frame 16 of conventional construction including upper and lower horizontal members 18 and corner or end vertical posts 2t) and 22 respectively.

Corner posts 2i), as best seen in Figure 2 of the drawings, is of angular configuration having a front outer wall 24 and a rearwardly directed outer wall 26. The end post 20 is also provided with front and side inner walls 28 meeting at the inner corner of the post 20 and spaced from the corresponding walls 24 and 26. The outer ends of the walls 23 terminate in inwardly directed front and side shoulders 30 along the ends of which are located walls 32 connected to the walls 24 and 26 by corresponding end walls 34.

A pane of glass 36 registers with window opening 12 and rests within and is locked to frame 16 in a conventional manner, the lower left hand corner of window pane 36 being severed along the line 38 to remove the corresponding lower corner thereof.

A dispensing actuating or control cabinet 4l) is carried on the display window counter and is of general rectilinear configuration provided with a rectangular front wall having a forwardly offset face plate 42 of generally triangular configuration corresponding to the cut-out portion of the window pane 36 and registering with said cut-out portion. The face plate 42 is provided along its vertical and horizontal edges with outwardly directed anges 44 which abut the inner end wall 32 of column 2i) and the corresponding wall of the bottom frame member 18. A fastening member 46 is suitably secured to the dispenser control cabinet 48 extending longitudinally thereof and beyond the diagonal edge of the face plate 42. The fastening member 46 includes laterally extending legs `48 and 50, leg 48 registering with a recess formed in the underface of face plate 42, legs 48 and 50 being connected by an intermediate domed portion 52. The ends of the fastening member 46 extend beyond the face plate 42 and are fastened to the frame members 18 and 2li by means of screws 54 which pass through openings formed in the walls of the frame members 18 and 20 and engage corresponding aligned tapped openings formed in the ends of fastening member 46.

The diagon-al edge of face plate 42 extends to a point short of the domed portion 52 of the fastening member 46, abutting the leg 48 thereof, and the inner border of pane 36 adjacent its diagonal edge likewise extends to a point short of the domed portion 52 and abuts the face of leg 50. A locking member 56 has a rearwardly directed portion 58 which nests between the confronting diagonal edges of pane 36 and face plate 42 and has a concave rearwardly directed face 60 confronting the domed portion 52 of fastening member 46 and is of conjugate configuration. Extending laterally from locking member portion 58 are legs 63 which abut the outer diagonal borders of pane 36 and face plate 42 to engage the face plate and pane securely.

A vertical locking member of angular configuration extends vertically along the inner face of post 20 and is provided with a rearwardly directed leg 81 which abuts the rear face of the vertical border of a side pane 82, and is also provided with a laterally extending leg 83 which l l 3 abuts the inner face of the vertical border of pane 36 and the inner face of fange 44 of face plate 42. Locking member 80 is releasably secured in position by means of a plurality ofscrews 84 Vpassing through openings formed in locking member A80 and engaging Cerresrndifis tapped openings formed in legs 28 of post 20.

`Locking member 56 extends between horizontal frame member 18 and vertical post 20, and is secured in'position by means ofv screws-64 passing through spaced openings formed vin locking member 56 and engaging corresponding tapped openings formed in the domedl portion 52 of fastening member 46,. It should be noted that frame members 18, 20, 22 and locking member 56 define a bezel for pane 36; and that locking member 56, and the lower portion of lframe post 20, and the left hand portion of the bottom frame member 18 dene a bezel for the dispenser cabinet face plate 42.

Located behind pane 36 is a laterally extending endless conveyor belt 65 carried and advanced by and between a pair of drums 66 and extending from the right hand end of the display window through a side opening formed in the dispenser `cabinet and communieating with a dispensing opening 67 formed in the dispenser cabinet face plate 42. LocatedV above and directly behind the upper run of the conveyor belt are a plurality of dispensing slave units 68 each including a base 69 housing the slavfeunit dispensing mechanism and having a discharge opening 70 formed therein substantially at the level of the upper run of the conveyor belt 65.

A stack of articles`71 is carried by each slave unit 68 and maintained in position by a plurality of vertical guide legs 72. The Vfront guide leg 72 carries a display package 73 corresponding to the articles 71 being dispensed. Each of the slave units 68 may carry a different group of articles 71 and is of well known and conventional structure. The slave units 68 are electrically connected to a dispensing mechanism carried in the cabinet 40 and are selectively actuated by means of a selector knob 74 carried on the dispenser face plate 42. The usual coin slot, indicator lights, coin return receptacle, and other conventional components are carried on face plate 42 in the usual manner.

In order to effect the dispensing of a selected article 71, knob 74 is rotated to the indicated selection and the coins in the required amount inserted in the slot. When the proper currency has been inserted'in the dispensing unit a signal is sent to the selected slave unit 68 to effect the discharge of an article 71 .through slot 70 onto the upper run of conveyor belt 65, which is momentarily actuated to transport the article 71 into cabinet 40 and discharge it through opening 67. The electrical and mechanical structure of the dispensing mechanism and the slave unit is well known and need not be described.

While there has been described and illustrated a preferred embodiment of the present invention, it is apparent that numerous alterations and omissions may be made Without departing from the spirit thereof. For example, the conveyor belt 65 may be eliminated and the pane 36 terminated at a point above the lower frame member 18, the space between the frame member 18 and the lower edge of the pane 36 being filled by a metal strip having openings yformed therein connected by discharge chutes to corresponding slave members 59. The lower edge of pane 36 thus would be engaged by a bezel corresponding to the lower frame member 1d. The structure of the locking member 56 and fastening member 46 may be moditied so that the screws 54 and 64 may be applied from within the cabinet 40 or from the inside of the window 10 so that no screws are exposed on the exterior of the window 10. Further, although the pane 36 is severed along a line 3S to form a straight edge, the line 38 may consist of successive intersecting lines so as to provide an outwardly convex edge in which the exterior angles are each greater than or the edge may be otherwise shaped so as to provide no points of Weakness conducive to initiating cracks in the pane 36.

Having described my invention, l claim: y

1. A structure for use in a store display Window having a substantially rectangular opening, comprising a transparent window pane of substantially rectangular configuration registering with said opening, said pane being characterized by the absence of a lower corner, a corner of said rectangular opening in the Window'being uncovered by said pane, a control panel member confronting said uncovered'corner and a bezel secured to said panel and engaging the edge of the panel bordering said opening, and wherein said panel is of substantially rectangular configuration and is provided with a triangular face plate corresponding in shape to and engaging said uncovered corner and is forwardly offset relative to said front panel.

2. An improved structure in accordance with claim l, wherein said face plate includes a diagonal edge and including fastening means securing said diagonal edge to the adjacent edge of said pane.

3. An improved structure in accordance with claim l, wherein said face plate has an opening formed therein.

References Cited in the file of this patent 

